Drain valve ball lever

ABSTRACT

A pop-up drain valve assembly for a sink includes a drain plug and control means for raising and lowering the plug to open and close the drain. The control means includes a manually operable plunger rod and a unitary, one piece, plastic ball lever that pivots to translate the downward force applied to the plunger rod into an upward force for lifting the drain plug to open the drain. The inner end of the ball lever is positioned beneath the drain plug and the outer end extends through and is retained in an opening in the plunger rod. The ball lever also includes an integral stop which prevents the rod from riding up and binding on the lever and retaining means which prevents the outer end of the lever from sliding out of the opening in the rod. In a preferred form, the retaining means is a pair of spaced apart, resilient fingers which can be forced together to permit the outer end of the lever to enter the opening of the rod and which upon release will resume their normal shape to prevent the outer end of the lever from being removed from the opening in the rod.

This invention relates to a pop-up drain valve assembly and, moreparticularly, to a unitary, one-piece, plastic ball lever for use aspart of the control means for the valve assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plumbing fixtures such as sinks that have faucets for supplying water,conventionally use a pop-up type drain valve assembly for controllingthe flow of water through the drain. This type of assembly is providedwith a manually operable control mechanism for raising and lowering adrain plug to open and close the drain. The control mechanism isnormally comprised of a plunger rod connected to a ball lever whichpivots on a fulcrum to translate the downward force applied to theplunger rod into an upward force for lifting the drain plug and openingthe drain. When an upward force is applied to the plunger rod, the balllever pivots in the opposite direction to allow the drain plug to dropby means of gravity to close the drain.

The prior art has provided a number of different arrangements for pop-uptype drain valve assemblies. One such arrangement is disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 3,731,326 issued to Politz on May 8, 1973. Politz discloses aball lever having a plastic cover and ball member seated on one end ofthe rod 21 that prevents corrosion.

Another arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 3,419,919 issued toStayner on Jan. 7, 1969. Stayner discloses a plastic hinged ball leverwhich is connected by means of a set screw to a plunger rod that extendsthrough a transverse bore in the lever.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved ball lever for use as apart of a control means for manually opening and closing a drain plug ina pop-up drain valve assembly. More specifically, the invention residesin a unitary, one-piece, plastic lever having a ball integrally formedthereon, and a means for connecting the lever to a plunger rod of thecontrol means. The connection is accomplished by providing the outer endof the lever with a section which is adapted to extend through anopening in the plunger rod. An integral stop for preventing the rod fromriding up and binding on the arm of the lever is positioned intermediatethe length of the arm. The lever also has retaining means for preventingthe outer end of the lever from sliding out of the opening in the rodonce inserted.

In a preferred form, the outer end of the ball lever is bifurcated andpresents a pair of spaced, resilient tapered fingers. As the spaced,tapered fingers are inserted into the opening in the rod, they areforced together to reduce their effective diameter and to allow theouter end of the lever to pass through the opening in the rod and tosnap in place. The stop which is preferably an integral flange preventsthe rod from riding up and binding on the lever.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved ball lever for apop-up type drain valve assembly.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved means forconnecting a ball lever to a plunger rod in a pop-up type drain valveassembly.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention willappear from the following description. In the description, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichthere is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation preferredembodiments of the invention. Such embodiments do not represent the fullscope of the invention, but rather the invention may be employed in manyother embodiments, and reference is made to the claims herein forinterpreting the breadth of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section, showing a pop-uptype drain valve assembly employing a ball lever of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of a ball lever constituting a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view in elevation illustrating an alternateball lever construction constituting a second embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective illustrating the connectionof the ball lever of FIG. 2 to a plunger rod of the drain valve assemblyof FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a pop-up type drain valve assemblydesignated generally by the numeral 10 for a wash basin or sink 11having a faucet 12 for supplying water therein. The sink 11 has anoutlet portion 13 in which there is provided a generally cylindrical,vertical opening 14. Mounted in the outlet portion 13 at the upper endof the opening 14 is an annular seat 15 which is threadedly engaged witha pipe 16. The opening 14, the annular seat 15 and the pipe 16 definethe drain 17 which receives water from the sink 11. Disposed within thedrain 17 is an elongated, fluted drain plug 18 normally seated bygravity against the seat 15. The pipe 16 extends below the outletportion 13 of the sink 11 to threadedly engage a pipe extension 19 bymeans of a pipe union 20. The pipe extension 19 is provided with ahorizontally extending fitting 21 having a washer 22 seated thereinwhich forms a generally cylindrical ball socket 23.

The drain valve assembly 10 further includes an control mechanism forcontrolling the position of the drain plug 18, the present inventionbeing a part of such mechanism. Extending into the lumen of the pipeextension 19 under and against the lower end of the drain plug 18 is oneend of a unitary, one-piece, plastic ball lever 24. The ball lever 24 isan elongated, rod-like member having a ball 25 integrally formed thereonintermediate its length and toward its inner end 24a. The ball 25 ispivotally mounted in the socket 23 by means of a collar 26 threadedlyengaged with the fitting 21, which permits pivotal movement of the lever24. The collar 26 has an opening 27 formed in its outward face throughwhich extends the arm of the lever 24. The arm of the lever 24preferably tapers away from the ball 25 in order to facilitate molding.The lever 24 is connected at its outer end 24b to a plunger rod 28 atconnection point 29. The plunger rod 28 which extends vertically upwardfrom the connection point 29 to a U-shaped end portion 28a has anopening through which a manually operable lift rod 30 extends. The liftrod 30 has a knob 31 at its upper end and extends vertically through thebody of the faucet 12 to be connected at its lower end in the U-shapedend portion 28a of the rod 28 by a set screw 32. Thus, by raising andlowering the knob 31 the ball lever 24 will pivot in the socket 23 toraise and lower the drain plug 18, as is conventionally understood bythose skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the ball lever 24, and in particular,shows a detailed view of a connecting portion 33 of the outer end 24b ofthe ball lever 24. The connecting portion 33 projects outwardly andcoaxially from the lever 24 and it is bifurcated or forked to present apair of opposing, finger-like members 34 separated by a tapered slot 35.The finger-like members 34 are resilient so that when they are forciblydeformed toward each other, they will not set in that condition, butwill spring back to their original shape and position upon release ofthe force.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the members 34 have tapered tips 36. Thetips 36 provide an easy lead-in into the plunger rod opening 38 (seenonly in FIG. 4). Each finger-like member also has a rounded protuberanceor knuckle 39 intermediate its length. These knuckles 39 are preferablyintegrally formed on the finger-like members 36, and convex in shape.The knuckles 39 have an apex and are tapered both inwardly 39a andoutwardly 39b therefrom with the outward inclination toward the tip 36being more gradual. The knuckles 39 have sufficient height so that thediameter as measured from the apex of one knuckle to the apex of theother is greater than the diameter of the plunger rod opening 38. A stop40 in the form of an integral flange is spaced inwardly from the knuckle39 to provide a rod-receiving annular groove 41 which is of lesserdiameter than both the non-deformed diameter of the knuckles 39 and thestop 40. The diameter of the stop or flange 40 is greater than that ofthe opening 38 so that once the rod is in place in the groove 41 it isprevented from riding up and binding on the lever 24.

The connection of the ball lever 24 to the plunger rod 28 is made byinserting the tips 36 of the finger-like members 34 through an opening38 in the lower end of the plunger rod 28 until the protuberances orknuckles 39 contact the edges of the opening 38. An additional pushingforce then is exerted in the direction of the opening 38 so that theunyielding opening 38 forces the tapered, finger-like members 34together to reduce the effective diameter of the knuckles 39 to lessthan that of the opening 38. When this occurs, the knuckles 39 passthrough the opening 38 and the rod is in the annular groove 41. Inactual operation, the process is accomplished so quickly that the balllever 24 can be considered to be snapped into proper connection with therod 28. The flange 40 prevents the rod 28 from leaving the groove 41 andriding up and binding on the outer end of the lever 24, and the steepertrailing edge or inward inclination 39b of the knuckles 39 prevent theball lever 24 from sliding out of the opening 38 in the rod 28. The balllever 24, may, if desired, be removed from the groove 41 by forciblydeforming the fingers 34 toward each other and into the slot 35 toreduce the effective diameter of the knuckles 39 to less than that ofthe opening 38.

It should be noted that FIG. 4 shows several vertically aligned openings38 in the lower end of the plunger rod 28. These additional openings 38are provided to allow adjustment of the raising and lowering stroke ofthe ball lever 24 so that sinks of different designs and depths may beaccommodated.

In FIG. 3, there is shown a second embodiment of the invention in whichthe connecting portion 42 of the ball lever does not have the elongated,tapered tips 36 of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, theconnecting portion 42 is also bifurcated or forked to present spaced,opposing, finger-like members 43. The ends of the finger-like members 43are tapered and spaced apart by a slot 44 which allows sufficientdeformation of the fingers 43 for a snap-in action to occur. The fingers43 have protuberances or knuckles 45 similar to those of the firstembodiment, and a flange 46 which with the knuckles 45 forms therod-receiving annular groove 47 for the plunger rod 28. The connectingportion 42 of the second embodiment of the ball lever 24 is introducedinto the opening 38 in the plunger rod 28 in the same manner as thefirst embodiment. However, since the more tapered tips 36 of the firstembodiment provide a better lead-in for the connecting portion it is thepreferred embodiment.

The ball rod lever is preferably molded of a plastic available fromCelanese Corp. under the name Celcon. It is an acetal copolymer whichpossesses an inherent lubricity which facilitates the introduction ofthe fingers into the rod opening. In addition, it can withstand longexposure to elevated temperatures. Celcon is non-corrosive even whenexposed to hot water and will not lime up. In addition to theaforementioned plastic, a wide variety of other plastic materialsincluding nylon can be used which possess the properties needed to meetthe requirements for the ball lever under conditions of use.

While in the embodiments shown and described the protuberances orknuckles 39 and 43 are integrally formed on the connecting portionsvarious modifications are obviously possible without departing from thefull scope and spirit of the invention. If desired, the functionalequivalent of the knuckles may be provided by other means such as aretaining ring seated in a circular groove in the lever arm. Therefore,where the term "knuckle" is used in the specification and claims, it isintended that the functional equivalents to the illustrated anddescribed structure are also intended to be covered. In view, of thepossible modifications, the invention is not intended to be limited bythe showing or description herein, or in any other manner, exceptinsofar as may specifically be required.

I claim:
 1. An improved ball lever for a pop-up drain valve assembly ofthe type in which an inner end of the ball lever is used to raise andlower the drain plug and the outer end is connected to a plunger rod,said improved ball lever comprising:a unitary, one-piece, plastic,elongated member; a ball integrally formed on said member intermediateits length upon which the inner end of said member pivots to raise andlower said drain plug; and an outer end which is adapted to extend intoand through an opening in said plunger rod to form a releasableconnection therewith, said outer end being provided with stop meanswhich prevents said plunger rod from travelling along and binding onsaid elongated member and retaining means for releasably securing theouter end of said member in the opening in said plunger rod which isspaced from said stop means to provide a plunger rod-receiving groove,said retaining means comprising: at least two outwardly extending,spaced apart, resilient fingers formed in the outer end of saidelongated member; and an integral protuberance on each of said fingershaving a combined non-deformed diameter which is greater than thediameter of the opening in said plunger rod but which is less than thediameter of the opening in said rod when said fingers are deformed byforcing them towards each other, each of said protuberances including anoutward inclination which facilitates the insertion of the outer end ofsaid elongated member into the opening in said plunger rod, and aninward inclination which prevents said outer end from sliding out of theopening in said plunger rod when said outer end is inserted into theopening in said rod, but which is sufficiently tapered to permit theouter end of said elongated member to be removed from said opening uponthe application of sufficient force to deform said fingers to reduce theeffective diameter of said protuberances to less than that of saidopening.
 2. The ball lever of claim 1 in which the stop means is anintegral flange having a greater diameter than the opening in theplunger rod.
 3. The ball lever of claim 1 in which the retaining meanscomprises two opposed fingers formed in the outer end of the elongatedmember.